Season 2010–11 saw Greenock Morton compete in their fourth consecutive season in the First Division, having defeated Ayr United on the last day of the 2009–10 season.

Story of the season

May

James Grady and his assistant

Allan McManus Allan William McManus (born 17 November 1974 in Paisley, Renfrewshire) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. He played for Hearts, Livingston, Alloa Athletic, Ayr United, Airdrie United, St Johnstone, Greenock Mort ...

(signed for

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

) were sacked on 9 May, after eight months in charge.

Ryan McGuffie Ryan McGuffie (born 22 July 1980) is a Scottish former professional footballer who last played for Australian club St Albans Saints. McGuffie is a utility player who can line up in either defence or midfield. Career Early career Ryan McGu ...

signed a pre-contract agreement with hometown club Queen of the South. Erik Paartalu returned home to Australia to sign for

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

. Morton release 7 other players, although they may still be re-signed by the new manager when he is appointed. Brian Graham accepted a new deal and Colin Stewart was offered new terms. The released players were Jim McAlister (signed for Hamilton Accies), Steven Masterton (signed for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

), Alan Reid,

Dominic Shimmin Dominic Edward Shimmin (born 13 October 1987, in Bermondsey) is an English former footballer. In his career, he has also played for Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, AFC Bournemouth and Crawley Town. Shimmin mainly plays as a centre half. Career (E ...

(signed for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

), Donovan Simmonds (signed for

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

), Kevin Finlayson (signed for Clyde) and Alex Walker (signed for East Stirlingshire ). Puma were announced as the new kit manufacturers for the 2010–11 season. Allan Moore was appointed as manager on 26 May, on a three-year deal.

June

Morton made their first signing of the season on a pre-contract agreement, signing Marc Smyth from

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Clu ...

; however the move was only fully completed on 29 June. Colin Stewart also signed a new contract. Kevin Kelbie signed from

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

side Ballymena United. David O'Brien joined up with his ex-boss Moore on a free transfer from Stirling Albion. It was announced on 7 June that Morton would play

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

and

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in pre-season friendlies. Graeme Holmes was signed from

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

. Moore appointed Mark McNally as his assistant. Iain Russell rejected the contract extension in order to sign a two-year contract with Livingston. Moore signed ex-Queen of the South striker Stewart Kean.

July

With just over a week until the competitive games begin, Morton sign defender Grant Evans on loan from Hamilton Accies. New contracts were given to youngsters Ryan Kane and Nathan Shepherd. David MacGregor was given another years contract with the club. This will coincide with his testimonial year at Morton. French trialists Fouad Bachirou and Tarik Bengelloun were signed on one-year deals. It turned out however that Bengelloun required to serve a lengthy suspension for a bottle throwing incident in France, so the contract offer was rescinded. Bengelloun later returned to France to sign for

Racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Stuart McCaffrey was signed on a one-year deal from St Johnstone to take the squad to 22. Ryan McWilliams was released, and signed for Second Division Ayr United.

August

Morton exited both the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

and

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Ross County respectively. In their match against Raith Rovers, Morton gave ex-Dundee fullback Eddie Malone a start as a trialist. Neil MacFarlane was released to allow room for one more player to come in to the squad. MacFarlane eventually signed for Annan Athletic in the Third Division.

September

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

loaned local youngster Sean Fitzharris to Morton on 10 September after he scored a brace against them in a 4–0 Celtic victory at Lennoxtown training centre.

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian striker Jonathan Toto signed until January, when he is expected to sign for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side Hearts. Ex-

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and Hibs

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Patrick Cregg was brought in on trial and made his début against Ross County alongside Toto, Cregg was signed by rivals St Mirren.

October

Ryan Kane and Nathan Shepherd joined

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

junior side Glenafton Athletic on loan, and made their debuts in a 6–3 victory over Bellshill Athletic.

Darren Young Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a trainer at the NJPW Academy and a former Strong Openweight Champion. He is bes ...

joined the club as a trialist and made his first appearance from the bench in the draw at

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

. Morton were drawn away to near neighbours

, the fifth cup meeting between the pair in two seasons.

November

Darren Young signed on a short-term contract until the end of 2010.

December

Stewart Greacen Stewart Greacen (born 31 March 1982) is a Scottish retired Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), central defender. Greacen started his career as a youth player with Rangers F.C., Rangers, before maki ...

who had been at the club since 2003 (and had a previous loan spell at Cappielow) was released. Jonathan Toto also left the club (signing for Etoile FC in March). After the release of Greacen freed up funds (he signed for Derry City in February 2011), Darren Young was offered a new contract to the end of the season. Young signed the new contract, and the loan of Grant Evans was also extended until the end of the season.

January

Morton were drawn against

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Beith Beith (locally ) is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) afte ...

3–4 in a replay at Bellsdale Park. Sean Fitzharris was loaned again from Celtic for the remainder of the season.

Derek Lyle Derek Lyle (born 13 February 1981) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a striker. Lyle played for Partick Thistle, Queen of the South ''(two spells)'', Dundee, Hamilton Academical ''(two spells)'', Greenock Morton, Cowdenbeath, Pe ...

was signed on a free transfer from Hamilton, which the manager stated would be the last incoming transfer of the season. In their re-arranged Scottish Cup fourth round tie at Cappielow, Morton battled back from 0–2 down, with ten men, to salvage a draw and earn a replay at the

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, officially The Albert Bartlett Stadium, is a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

. The replay in Airdrie finished 5–2 to Morton, allowing them to progress to the fifth round to play

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

at the

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish League One club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caledonian Thistle was fo ...

February

Morton were eliminated from the Scottish Cup, after being annihilated 5–1 by Inverness, with new boy Lyle scoring a late consolation.

March

Morton youngster Declan McDaid (aged 15) became the centre of transfer speculation, and a rejected £35,000 bid from Celtic, with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

also scouting him.

April

Derek Lyle was arrested by

Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, Glasgow City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, ...

, as part of Operation Neptune, on suspicion of possession of controlled substances at his home in

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

. This later was confirmed to be "possession with intent to supply", a much more serious charge for which he and partner Nicola Mullen (29) were released on bail pending full committal. Morton were confirmed as safe from automatic relegation on 10 April, when Stirling Albion failed to beat Dundee; condemning themselves to play in the Second Division next season. Michael Tidser signed a new three-year contract with the club.

May

Kevin McKinlay, David MacGregor, Kevin Cuthbert, Darren Young, Graeme Holmes and Stewart Kean were all told they would be released in a mass clear-out. First choice centre-back pairing Stuart McCaffrey and Marc Smyth signed new one-year deals. Derek Lyle was told he would not receive a new contract in the summer, but a new deal was tabled for

Carlo Monti Carlo Monti (24 March 1920 – 7 April 2016) was an Italian athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. He won two medals, one individual and one relay, in List of international athletics championships and games, international athletics compe ...

. Colin Stewart signed a new one-year contract. Morton finished the season in seventh place after a disappointing defeat to already relegated Stirling Albion at the Doubletree Dunblane Stadium.

First team transfers

*From end of 2009–10 season, to last match of season 2010–11

In

Out

Squad (that played for first team)

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

League table

Player statistics

All competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 Greenock Morton F.C. season Greenock Morton Greenock Morton F.C. seasons